I've decided to try taking my RA consultant seriously for a change.......

[DaveK]

and ride my bike a bit 

My bike probably isn't very fashionable these days, but hey, I wear a Tilley in the UK and carry a Versipack! But I have decided that my new RA consultant may actually know what she's on about I'm banned from playing football or running, I'm not supposed to do any hiking / long walking (but I told her that's non-negotiable) and am supposed to limit myself to swimming or cycling for exercise (as they are non-impact activities  ). As I have a perfectly good, if seldom used bike, I have selected cycling as the lesser of the two evils, and with the missus and daughter away for the weekend, I thought I'd start checking it over and getting it fixed up.

I think it looks like a decent bike - the brakes are wired up backwards because it's French, but I think it'll do me for a run-out. If this rain stops for a bit, I'll take it for a test ride I reckon. Failing that, it's supposed to be better tomorrow, so I'll go for a ride somewhere

Here it is after I wiped the layers of sawdust off it and gave it a hose-down and oiling





I quite want to get out there now

[Screwtape]

Hope you get on with the bike mate 

If you mean the breaks are swapped over so you feel like your using the wrong hand for front or rear it's pretty easy to swap over the cables and the lever end.

Just release the noodle (that's the right angle tube) at the brake end to allow some cable slack, then you'll be able to remove the other end from the levers and just swap. Pop the noodle back in and adjust the tension screws at handle end again till your happy then go ride.

[DaveK]

Oh yeah - I could do it if I could be arsed

I did ride this bike a fair bit in France, so I'm actually used to it being backwards now anyway. Probably, I haven't ridden it for years

[ryan1835]

so why did you dremel and hacksaw it ? 

[Mr. Whippy]

Way nicer than my bike (which I commute on!).  I don't think there's much to worry about except how nice the paint looks... .

If you're gonna be on road mostly, you may want less knobby tires though...

[ryan1835]

Way nicer than my bike (which I commute on!).  I don't think there's much to worry about except how nice the paint looks... .

If you're gonna be on road mostly, you may want less knobby tires though...

yep thats a big help, i hate rideing my mountain bike long distance on the road bloody knackering

[Grant Lamontagne]

Nice looking ride there Dave!

I have been getting the two-wheel urge again lately as well.  My wife's cousin works for the city and is going to let me know when the next bike auction is so I can maybe pick up something halfways decent on the cheap.

I don't think I've been on a bicycle since Whoey and I shared a basement apartment in London a few thousand years ago!

Def

[DaveK]

so why did you dremel and hacksaw it ?  

Shortening the seat post (something I meant to sort when I bought it about 12 years ago )

I don't think I've been on a bicycle since Whoey and I shared a basement apartment in London a few thousand years ago!

I was trying to work out, and I don't think I've ridden this much since I brought it back from France in 2000

I just took a ride up to the local shop (about a mile each way) and there are some things to sort! The brakes have got to be switched after all I've decided, and getting the seat height right is going to be an ongoing project.

If you're gonna be on road mostly, you may want less knobby tires though...

Probably not actually, more likely I'll get a bike rack for the Landrover and go somewhere more interesting - need to think on that one

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Welcome back to the cycling fold mate

Hope it works out for you, and the consultant gives you a bit less grief

[AHB]

Nice looking bike Dave.. 
But we are gonna need some "action", preferably some off-road pics with the Dobbelduffel..   

[nuphoria]

RA is a bugger, but if you want it to stay in remission for as long as possible, you have to be a good boy

The bike is an excellent start 

[DaveK]

Well, I'll do a few miles on it tomorrow and see what happens I'm undecided about tyres at the moment

I'm going to have a look at bike racks I think.

[DaveK]

Just took it for a few more miles around a local lake and nothing fell off.

Bike racks are stupidly expensive aren't they?  I think I'll just stick some new tyres on it and use it locally for a while

[Mr. Whippy]

Just took it for a few more miles around a local lake and nothing fell off.

Bike racks are stupidly expensive aren't they?  I think I'll just stick some new tyres on it and use it locally for a while

You have a Rover right?  Pop off the front tire and toss 'er in!

[DaveK]

Just took it for a few more miles around a local lake and nothing fell off.

Bike racks are stupidly expensive aren't they?  I think I'll just stick some new tyres on it and use it locally for a while

You have a Rover right?  Pop off the front tire and toss 'er in!

I may well do that actually. I have to pick SWMBO and Mini SWMBO up from the station at 7:30pm tomorrow. I reckon I could get up to the peaks for a couple of hours 

[GraysonK]

Hi Dave!  I hope this works out for you.  Heaven knows that my bike has been great for my knee and my back.  For the longest time, about 2 years, my mountain bike was my only bike.  I thought I'd discovered the ultimate bliss when I switched out my knobby tires for a more all-purpose tire.  It's much smoother but you can still do a little bit of off the concrete riding.  I highly recommend it.  You're joints will thank you.   

[DaveK]

Cheers Kelly

I've no idea what sort of tyres I want 

[DaveK]

Looking at these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwalbe_Land_Crusier_MTB_Tyre/5360042609/#more

[nuphoria]

If you're mostly going to be on the road I would stick to more road orientated tires. All those nobbles just slow you down

I have a hybrid bike with 35mm rims and relatively smooth tires. It's a comfy ride.

[DaveK]

I may have to hedge my bets a bit and go for a hybrid tyre like that. I would imaging that it will be a little bit of road, a little bit of peak trail, forest paths that kind of thing.

I'm not going to be doing any serious off-road type stuff, but I won't be doing a lot of road riding either

[Mr. Whippy]

I have tires similar to those you posted.  I like them because when I'm riding on broken pavement and gravel shoulders, they're pretty good and on road, they don't have the resistance of a true knobby off road tire.   I'm gonna look for similar when time comes to replace my tires.

[GraysonK]

Just another little piece of "lesson learned" stuff: I don't know what the roads and paths are like over there but I've run through a lot of tubes because I run over stuff all the time that I don't see that has punctured my tires.  I found out, much to my delight, that they make a kevlar strip that they can put between the tube and the tire that will protect the tube from puncture.  I love it!  Ive found pieces of glasses in my tires that didn't come close to puncturing that strip.  Nice stuff.

[DaveK]

Yeah - I saw that Kelly. The ones I've linked to seem to have the Kevlar built in

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I think you've picked a good tyre there for mixed use mate

You've got suspension, so make sure you pump the tyres up at least 10 psi over what the tyre recommends if your doing a lot of road work in the future

[ryan1835]

my tyres are about 2 inch wide atm :O im thinking of getting new ones before long as there getting a bit bald

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Stick with Schwalbe's mate

I've been using them in one for or other for 5 years now, and won't use anything else

[ryan1835]

ive got posh kenda tyres on there at the moment, there goo but a bit too much road resistance...

im going to go down the shop and see what they have later

[Screwtape]

I've always had good results with SpeSmurfpillsed and Hutchingson tyres mainly because I mostly ride off road, I've never tried Schwalbe's but i like the price of those one you've found Dave

[DaveK]

OK - I ordered some

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

OK - I ordered some

Nice one